IRENE, South Africa  During the past year, the U.S. team frequently put itself in difficult situations. Then, just when it looked grim, just as the magician was about to saw through the box the Americans had put themselves in — poof! — they were back on their feet.

"I don't know what it is about us, we're resilient after we get punched in the face," goalkeeper Tim Howard said. "I wish I could bottle it up and sell it. When it happens, we seem to respond."

The USA's 1-1 draw against England in Saturday's World Cup opener was the latest example. When England scored in the fourth minute on a defensive breakdown, it was hard to imagine a worse start for the Americans. English players said they assumed they would dominate the rest of the way after such an early, easy goal.

"At that point, we have two options: You can let it rain on you or respond. And we responded," midfielder Landon Donovan said.

Thanks to the play of Howard, whose punch in the face came in the form of cleats to the chest, and a defense that improved as the game progressed, the USA, collectively, rose from the canvas.

"When you play arguably three of the best players in the world in (Frank) Lampard, (Steven) Gerrard and (Wayne) Rooney, it doesn't take three guys or four guys to get the job done (defensively), it takes, nine, 10, 11 guys," Donovan said.

'Gives me goosebumps'

The draw put the Americans in a good position heading into Friday's game against Slovenia, which took the lead in Group C by beating Algeria on Sunday.

The USA has pulled off this party trick plenty of times before. Last summer at the Confederations Cup, the Americans lost their first two matches, then bounced back all the way to the finals.

Last October, after the USA had already qualified for the World Cup, the Americans played their final qualifier against Costa Rica. In essence, the result didn't matter. All that was on the line was first place in the region. Though the USA trailed 2-1 as regulation expired, the team came back to tie it in injury time. Afterwards, the Americans celebrated as if the game had meant much more.

"That game kinda embodies what our U.S. team is all about, and it gives me goosebumps thinking about it," Donovan said in an interview before the World Cup. "We have something that no other country in the world has. We have this spirit and dedication to each other. There's not many teams in the world that would have kept fighting until the end of the game to get a goal that in essence was meaningless but for us was full of meaning."

And perhaps this is why the team has found success when facing long odds: They play for each other.

"I think the mentality of the group is strong," coach Bob Bradley said Sunday. "We believe that we've been hardened along the way, and we believe we can play against tough teams, top teams. That sense of playing for each other for 90 minutes is pretty well established."

Still, falling behind early is not a pattern Bradley wants to see continue. After all, how many times can a team count on a goalkeeper letting a routine save trickle past him?

In the 40th minute, England's Robert Green reached to stop Clint Dempsey's shot, but the ball scooted past him and into the goal.

Lapse let England score

Though satisfied with the result against England, Bradley said Sunday his team needs to manage the early part of the game better. So what happened on the early goal?

Following a deep throw-in, England's Lampard targeted Rooney near the top of the penalty area. As the USA's Michael Bradley challenged, Lampard's pass missed Rooney and went towards teammate Emile Heskey, who turned on the USA's Jay Demerit. Heskey then played the ball to Gerrard, who ran behind midfielder Ricardo Clark and scored an easy goal.

When Bradley reviewed the sequence with reporters Sunday, he described the play in great detail, as if he was reviewing a tape of the game in his head, stopping, fast-forwarding and rewinding. Though it seemed that Clark was the fall guy on the play, this is what Bradley saw: "You have to have the ability to play collectively as a defense, but that also involves keeping track of players. If you're so worried about every player every time and you're pushing early to a guy, that means that there will be gaps.

"When the ball came to Lampard, Michael stepped up to close him down. Rooney came into the hole, and now Gooch (Oguchi Onyewu) has to make a decision as far as how tight he's gonna go.

"The initial pass from Lampard, Michael put enough pressure there that it was intended for Rooney, but it skipped by him and went to Heskey. And so in that moment … Ricardo is caught in a tough spot because he has to recover and track Gerrard. All it takes is a couple seconds where the reactions aren't as good as they need to be, and you've left a hole and you pay."

When Bradley boarded the bus after the game, he was working on what the team could improve upon. By the time the bus arrived at their hotel, it was clear. "I had watched that goal a few times," he said with small smile.

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